The Lines
by irishrose2
Summary: Sequel to Gifts. Of two souled ones and a Slayer-the Lines will begin.
1. Discovery

The Lines  
  
A/N- Takes place 4 years after the first part of this series-Gifts-which is mid to post season 7. If you haven't read it you will probably be a little confused at first in this part. "Of two souled ones and a slayer, the lines will begin. A slayer and a champion." This is the beginning of the rest of that story.  
  
Rating: "R"  
  
Disclaimer: Joss owns everything, including my writers soul! I just borrow the character for a while.  
  
Distribution: Just ask!  
  
Feedback: greatly appreciated.  
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Spike came out with a hard left. He grabbed the oozing blue demon by the horns and brought the head crashing into his left knee, dropping it to the ground. With a quick twist he snapped the neck and it fell limp to the ground. Spike then turned to give the girl lying on the ground a hand up. He had hoped this potential would do a little better. It was her fourth time on patrol. He really hoped this one wouldn't get called, she was an incredibly shy little thing.   
  
"That's 'nough for tonight." Spike pronounced. "Best head back to the house." The girl simply nodded her agreement and wrung her hands. Spike turned and began the walk back . That's when he felt it. Something strange, a presence he hadn't felt in a few years now. He quickly scanned the area but didn't see anyone else about. He grabbed the arm of the little potential and began pushing her pace faster down the street. Maybe he was wrong, but this kid wouldn't last long in a fight if he was right.   
  
"Soon enough...." the woman said stepping from behind her hiding spot. "Soon enough," smiling after the two people as they left the cemetery.  
  
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"Mummy?" A small voice whispered, waking Buffy slightly from her sleep. Buffy sleepily peeked through her eyelids to see the little girl standing by the side of the bed with her face pushed up to within inches of hers.   
  
"Yes baby?" Buffy asked sitting up a little in bed. Both of the twins were standing by the bed, each holding the others hand. Little Bella had little stuffed bear clutched in her other hand, and William looked like he was about to fall asleep standing where he was.  
  
"Will's scared...." The child said a looked up at her mother with pleading eyes.  
  
"You want to sleep in here?" Buffy smiled knowingly.  
  
"uh, huh." The little girl beamed a smile up and started climbing in the bed. William followed his sister up as Buffy scooted over as far as possible in the bed. Buffy knew Spike was going to have a fit when he got in, but she just couldn't seem to resist her two little miracles. It was Spike's night for patrol and she was going to enjoy her cuddle time with the twins.  
  
Spike smiled when he quietly walked in the room. Buffy was asleep on one side of the bed with William on the other and between them was Bella, turned sideways with one arm slung back across Buffy's waist. William stirred as Spike rounded the bed and the boy looked up at him. Spike put his finger to his lip and picked up the little boy, then carried him into the room that the twins still shared.  
  
"Your sis get scared again?" Spike asked the child as he tucked him back into his bed. The child just nodded his head and drifted back to sleep. Spike frowned at that. It was the third time this week Bella had ended up in their bed. She used to sleep through the night until a few weeks ago and he was beginning to get a bad feeling about this. He would talk to Buffy tomorrow.   
  
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Buffy and Spike walked side by side through the cemetery. They always did patrol together on Wednesdays. It gave the girls a break and gave them some time without everyone else around. It was their time alone, and god help anything that was unfortunate enough to interrupt them. Buffy could tell Spike had something on his mind and she was pretty sure what it was, but if he wanted to stew a while then she was going to let him. Or I could drag it out of him, she thought. That sounded more fun.  
  
"So you gonna be broody all night or are you actually going to say something?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Confusing me with peaches again pet? I am not broody.....I'm" Spike began  
  
"A huge pain in my side?" Buffy finished cheerfully.  
  
"Funny, real funny. A real laugh riot, you are." Spike said rolling his eyes. "Just a bit worried is all."  
  
"Spike, I'm sure she'll be fine. All kids do this, and our is no different. She'll outgrow it eventually." Buffy said, sitting down on the park bench. She looked up at Spike as she tried to give him the assurance he needed.   
  
Spike started to say something, but then he got that familiar feeling again. He felt as if the air got 20 degrees colder as he heard a familiar laugh coming from behind him. Damn he had hoped he was wrong about this. Buffy shot up off the bench like something had stung her and produced a stake from the waist of her jeans.   
  
"Druscilla" Spike flatly said as he turned around.  
  
"Then it's true. The birds whispered to me that they were here, they did." The dark vampiress said as she side stepped, staying well away from the slayer and Spike at this point.  
  
"Did they tell you I would kill you, cause that's the only thing I see happening here," Buffy replied, stepping forward. Spike grabbed her arm causing her to stop, and she gave him a very confused and angry look.  
  
"What else did the birds tell you pet?" Spike asked, still watching Druscilla who was inching closer and closer.  
  
"Terrible stories they told. Said the little ones would be the end of our kind. Had to come see them, I did."  
  
"You know that won't happen Dru. Those are MY children and I'll stake you myself before you get near them." Spike fairly growled and Buffy could tell he was losing his battle to stay in human face.  
  
Druscilla laughed, bringing a very confused look for a moment from Spike that Dru seemed to catch. She suddenly turned serious.  
  
"My poor Spike doesn't know....." Druscilla began. She stepped forward again and was now nearly face to face with Spike.   
  
"Then why don't you share....." Buffy bit out.  
  
"Share, yes. Daddy should share. Secrets he has. A day of secrets." Dru said as she leaned in to Spike. She brought her face up and whispered for Spike's ears alone, "She's daddy's girl you know."   
  
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	2. Confrontation

Chapter 2  
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Spike's head snapped back from Drusilla's whisper. Her full meaning hitting him as the mad vampiress began laughing as she backed away from Spike. Buffy took a step forward to pursue Drusilla, but Spikes hand was still holding her arm. Buffy looked up at Spike with a very angry and confused expression.   
  
"Lets go." Spike commanded as he turned back the way they had come. He hadn't taken but a few steps before Buffy caught his arm and spun him around to face her.  
  
"What the hell was that?" Buffy demanded. "You heard her, she's after the kids. We have to find her and dust her. Or have you forgotten that we do that?"  
  
"I haven't forgotten a damn, bloody, thing." Spike said through his clenched jaw. "You think I want her coming after my kids? We need to get back, and we need to get back now. No telling what bloody scheme she's cooked up." He said as he turned back toward the house, almost running now. His mind was running even faster. He mentally checked off who would be at the house to help if something happened. Dru's minions couldn't come in uninvited, but that didn't mean some other kind of demon couldn't. Had they done an uninvite spell for Dru? What about what Dru had said, could it be true? Could she be his? It had to be a trick. Something she had cooked up to mess with his brain.  
  
Spike burst through the front door with Buffy close on his heels. He quickly glanced around. Everything seemed all right. No signs of struggle. The girls still in the great room were all calm but looking very frightened of him at the moment.   
  
"Where's the twins?" Spike asked glancing around the room.  
  
"Upstairs in bed, what's wrong?" One of the girls answered.   
  
Spike dashed to the stairs and took them three at a time. He heard Buffy call after him, but he had to see for himself that they were all right. He burst through the door and into the twins room. He stilled his movements and reached out with his senses. Heartbeats, breathing, all normal and easy. They were sleeping.   
  
As Buffy made her way into the room behind him, Spike let out a sigh of air he didn't realize he had been holding. She cautiously placed a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes to make sure he was all right now. Evidently seeing what she needed to, she quickly made her way to the beds and tucked in each child, placing a kiss on each tiny sleeping head. She returned to Spike and pulled him through the adjoining door into their room. He moved automatically, letting her take him as his mind kept moving at it's breakneck speed.   
  
Buffy sat Spike on the edge of the bed and knelt before him, taking his hands into hers. Buffy had rarely, if ever, seen Spike like this before. There had certainly been moments over the last few years that each of them had known fear. For each other, the girls, the twins, but she couldn't recall Spike looking quite so...lost. Not since the time she had gone into his mind when she had been pregnant and just come out of her coma.   
  
"Spike, what's wrong? What did Drusilla say?" Buffy asked looking up into his face.  
  
There was a long pause before he answered.   
  
" I need to go to LA." He said quietly.  
  
"LA? What's in LA. Spike tell me what is going on?!" Buffy asked more urgently.  
  
"Angel. I think it's time he and I had a talk." Spike answered a little chillingly.  
  
Buffy stood up. She was getting more than a little angry that Spike wasn't telling her what Drusilla had said. "Then pick up the phone and call him, 'cause you aren't going to scare me half to death and then take off and leave me for God knows how long with a crazy vampire on the loose!" Buffy's tone had grown louder until at the last it was practically a shout. Spike looked up at her with a somewhat pensive look on his face.  
  
"It isn't the sort of thing you discuss over the phone pet." He said. "But you're right. Can't leave you and the tots here with Dru running about."  
  
"Then it's settled. We'll all go. We'll make a day of it. You can chat with Angel, and me and the twins will go see Dawn at the University." Buffy cheerfully said as she began changing for bed. "Haven't had a vacation since, well forever, it'll be nice." Buffy looked at Spike for confirmation, but he still seemed lost to his own thoughts.  
  
"Daddy?" A small voice said from the joining doorway.  
  
Spike shot up like a rocket and crossed the room to the little girl. "Hey, what is it mite?" He asked, kneeling down to the child's level. "Another dream?" The girl shook her head negatively, "I heard mummy. Is she mad?" The girl asked shyly.  
  
"No, your mum's not mad. I'm just real good at making mummy frustrated." Spike said with a half grin as he scooped up the child. He took her back to her bed and covered her up. He placed a kiss on the girls forehead, and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and looked at her. He watched her as she feel back to sleep, taking in every aspect of her little person.   
  
And he knew. How could they not have seen it? William was every bit the spitting image of Spike. Even the plump little toddler cheeks couldn't hide the cut of his cheekbones, the blue eyes that held a sparkle of mischief, the light brown hair that held an unruly curl on his forehead. Bella was completely opposite. She would be a dark beauty. And that face.....they would go to LA tomorrow night and get this sussed out once and for all. Tonight, he would go back to his waiting wife and they would be the little family a while longer.   
  
**********  
  
Spike spent the whole day playing with the twins. He had called in one of the watchers to take the girls training for the day. Buffy had packed up the car for the trip and spent the rest of the day making arrangements for the girls and for Giles to stay at the mansion while they went to LA. She also called and informed Angel that they were coming and would need a place to stay.  
  
Spike kept thinking to himself that this was the last time his family would be like this. He had never deluded himself into thinking that they would ever have a normal family, but he had hoped they would have this happiness a little longer. If that silly prophesy was to be believed, Bella would go on to be a slayer and William a warrior. Those thoughts alone were enough to send chills through him.  
  
As soon as the sun set, they started out for LA. The twins singing loudly and off key and Buffy led them through every childhood song she could think of to keep them entertained during the drive to LA. Before they had gotten very far the children had fallen asleep and the rest of the drive went by fairly quickly.   
  
As they entered the hotel each carrying a sleeping child, Wesley greeted them. "Buffy, Spike, glad you made it all right. I trust everything is OK? Angel made sure your room is ready." Wesley took the bag from Spike and walked ahead of them to their room. Angel kept a room in the hotel open for them, as they were frequently here on slayer or watcher business. Spike and Buffy each put their sleeping child on the bed and the Spike turned to address the watcher.  
  
"Wes," Spike began, "Peaches hanging about?"   
  
"Yes, he and Connor are down stairs demonstrating some swordsmanship to the students." Wesley said with a small grin, "though I feel it's a bit more on the competition side than a demonstration."   
  
"I wouldn't doubt you there, mate." Spike said as he gave Wesley's shoulder a tap, and then headed off down the hall. Wesley cocked an eyebrow in Buffy's direction, after watching Spike head downstairs.  
  
"Don't ask." Buffy started, " I don't even know, he's not sharing at the moment." Buffy offered Wes a small smile and set about making the room ready for the night.  
  
**********  
  
Spike could hear the metal clashing, and the guttural sounds of the two men fighting from down the hall. He also heard Angel's usual diatribe extolling the virtues of proper handling of the weapon. Spike carefully edged into the room as Connor and Angel continued to battle, each seemingly matched to the other.   
  
Angels back was to Spike, and Spike easily slipped up to the weapons case and selected a broadsword that was resting there. Signaling to Connor not to out him, he made his way up behind Angel. Spike pulled the sword back and made a sweep to bring it down straight at Angels head, as Connor continued a relentless charge. Suddenly Angels sword popped back behind him, effectively blocking Spikes move.   
  
"Nice of you to join us Spike." Angel said, without even turning around. Spike could almost hear Angels cocky grin, "Eyes kiddoes, it's all in the eyes." Angel addressed the class. With that Angel gave a nod to Connor and he stepped out of the match. As Angel dropped his shoulder he spun around bringing the sword around in a move toward Spikes midsection, but Spike easily blocked the blade. "So, to what do I owe this honor Spike? Did you just miss me?" Angel baited as he thrust again coming close enough to Spike's ear that he could hear the metal sing past him.   
  
"Funny you should ask Angel." Spike said as he countered with his own spin and sliced, just missing Angels left arm. "Seems an old friend of ours decided to look me up. You remember Drusilla. Said I should come see the great brooding one. Something about secrets we needed to know." Spike continued at each one continued their fierce competition.  
  
"Sorry to disappoint Spike, but I don't have any secrets for you." Angel replied as his blade caught Spike across the chest just nicking the skin.  
  
"No?"Spike said as he brought his own blade around. "I heard you had a whole day that was secret." Spike coolly said as his blade and Angels blade met just to the right of Angels head. Spike saw the flicker in Angels eye and his slight flinch, though Angel actually said nothing. So he had guessed right. Spike brought his blade down and carried it back to the weapons case.  
  
Angel glanced a Connor and motioned toward the door. Connor took the obvious hint and cleared the students out of the room, leaving only Angel and Spike.  
  
"Let me guess. Some disaster happens. You and Buffy had a round or two in the sack. You kept your sodding soul somehow and for whatever reason you wiped everyone's memory clean and went on like nothing happened." Spike said looking over his shoulder at Angel.   
  
Angel looked at Spike for a moment before turning away.  
  
"Yeah, I thought it might be something like that." Spike said in a cold voice.  
  
Angel didn't speak for a moment. Finally he asked quietly, "Does Buffy know?"   
  
"Not yet. Figured I'd get the story from you first." Spike said as he leaned against the door.  
  
"Dru is just yankin' your chain Spike, it happened a long time ago. It doesn't matter now." Angel stated as he put away his own sword.  
  
"Of coarse it matters, it changes everything." Spike shouted, visibly trying to calm himself. "You should have told us. When Buffy got pregnant and you heard the prophesy, YOU should have TOLD us."   
  
Angel gave a confused look to Spike. "OK Spike, I didn't follow you around that last curve. What does this have to do with the prophesy and Buffy's pregnancy?" Angel asked.  
  
Spike could barely see through his angry haze.   
  
"Because you stupid, sodding, git. Bella is YOUR daughter." 


	3. Aware

A quick Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. You keep me going!  
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Chapter 3  
  
Angel could only stare in stunned silence at Spike for several moments before his brain finally started working again and he finally replied.  
  
"Impossible."  
  
Spike seemed to consider this a moment then started laughing.   
  
"Funny word that...impossible" Spike began. "'Specially coming from you, concerning Buffy no less."   
  
Angel crossed his arms and waited for Spike to continue.  
  
"Impossible....hmm...you mean, like two vamps havin' a kid together? Oh, here's one...a vampire, no make that TWO vampires, falling in love with a slayer. Or, how about a slayer coming back from the dead...twice. Or making a whole day disappear...." Spike was counting off on his fingers.  
  
"OK, ok, you made your point Spike." Angel interrupted. "That still doesn't mean Bella belongs to me."   
  
"Have you actually looked at Bella? REALLY looked at her? I don't know how we didn't figure it sooner." Spike finished quietly.  
  
"Of coarse I've seen her, I'm up there all the time. I don't know what Dru said to you Spike, but Bella is your daughter, not mine."  
  
"Yeah, 'cause it makes SO much sense for two blondes with blue and green eyes to have a kid with dark hair and brown eyes. Not to mention, she's a good few inches taller than Will. Dru said she was yours, and we both know she's mad as a hatter, but her visions are spot on." Spike pointed out.  
  
"Spike, neither of you are exactly blondes." Angel hesitantly stated, drifting off toward the end. He really didn't like the idea of pointing out at the moment that he knew Buffy's true hair color. Spike didn't need encouragement in the direction he was already going. "And besides, I'm sure William will catch up to her. She's just had a growth spurt." Seeing that this didn't appease Spike at all, Angel decided that maybe Spike knowing about the missing day couldn't hurt. "Look Spike, that missing day happened a long time ago. A few years before Buffy was even pregnant with the twins."  
  
"When" Spike demanded without actually looking at Angel.  
  
"1999.....Thanksgiving. I had gone to Sunnydale to help Buffy without telling her. She found out, came to LA and confronted me." Angel said.  
  
"What happened?" Spike was still staring at the floor in front of his boot.  
  
Angel let out an exasperated sigh, but answered. "I fought a Mohra Demon. Our blood mixed. I was human for a little less than a day." Angel quickly added, "but, I found out that if I stayed human Buffy would die sooner than she should. I had the Oracles turn me back and they erased the day. They left me with the memory so it wouldn't happen again."   
  
Angel looked up as he finished the story and noticed that Spike was staring at him. He saw a multitude of emotions flicker across Spike's face..shock, confusion, and finally anger. Before Angel realized what Spike intended, Spike had closed the few steps between them and caught Angel with a full force left cross that sent Angel across the room and into the wall. Angel looked up very confused at a very angry Spike.  
  
"You had the nerve to judge me for sleeping with Buffy as a human, and you'd done the same thing? I was out of my head and half starved, and you kicked my arse for doing the same thing you did?" Spike shouted incredulously at Angel.  
  
Angel stood and wiped away the blood he felt trickle from the corner of his mouth. "I'm not the one who got her pregnant Spike, remember?" Angel bit out angrily.  
  
"Oh, and I suppose you were real careful to take care of that, right? Or were you so damn happy, all you could think about was just, just.. holding her, touching her, feeling her.....being with her?" Spike asked. When he saw the guilt cross Angel's face he knew he had hit the mark. "That's what I thought." Spike paused a moment the softly asked, "So you still convinced Dru was wrong about Bella?"  
  
"Yes" Angel answered.  
  
"And the prophesy, it would finally make sense." Spike said, more statement than question.  
  
"Spike, I don't know what it'll take to convince..." Angel started.  
  
"Those Oracles, I want to see them. Got a question or two." Spike interrupted  
  
"You can't. They're dead." Angel answered, more than a little angry that Spike had interrupted him again.  
  
"What about that one that gave you and Red the prophesy. We'll go see him." Spike said.  
  
"We tried that remember, right after the twins were born, he wouldn't tell us anything more. ." Angel said.  
  
"Then we'll TRY again, and THIS time, I'm going with you. So's Buffy, so I suggest you find a way to explain your little secret to her, cause as soon as I find that chant, we're taking that trip to see the oracle boy." Spike said, then not waiting for a reply from Angel, he stormed out of the room. Leaving Angel to his own thoughts and Spikes command.  
  
**********  
  
Angel knocked softly on the door to the room that belonged to Spike and Buffy. He had paced the training room ceaselessly for over an hour before he finally worked up the nerve to go talk to Buffy. Now he was sure that if he had a heart it would be pounding out of his chest. He had gone so long without having to tell Buffy. He had hoped he would never have to tell her. Why was he even doing what Spike had told him to anyway? Because if he didn't tell her, Spike would and it should come from him. So again, he knocked on the door.  
  
Buffy opened the door slowly. Stepping aside to let Angel in, and Angel wondered if Spike hadn't already told her.   
  
"Spike said you needed to talk to me." Buffy began after shutting the door, "and judging from the mood he was in, I take it whatever you have to say isn't of the good. But hey, it can't be much worse than his theory that Bella's your daughter instead of his." Buffy finished a little too cheerfully. Then seeing the look on Angel's face added, "or it could be." She sat in the chair in by the bed and sighed heavily. "OK, out with it."   
  
Angel told the entire story to Buffy from start to finish, including his reasons for not telling her before. He paused several times to offer Buffy a chance to speak, but she never did. Now he had been sitting there staring at his hands for what seemed like forever and Buffy still hadn't spoken. She just sat there staring into the space in front of her. Just when Angel was going to get up, Spike entered the room. He glanced a moment between Angel and Buffy and then up at the ceiling.  
  
"It's all set. Wes is watching the tots." Then he walked back out in the hallway and left the door standing open.   
  
Buffy got up and followed, leaving Angel still sitting in the chair. She suddenly stopped just behind him. "I...I understand. Why, I mean. I mean, don't expect me to forgive you just yet, but I do understand." And with that, she left the room.   
  
**********  
  
By the time Angel and Buffy had made it downstairs, Wes, Connor, and Spike had the circle ready and the room prepared. Spike held a small piece of paper in his hand and was standing just outside the circle. Wes directed then all where to stand and Spike began the incantation Willow had used previously to get to the oracle.  
  
With a bright flash of light, the two vampires and the slayer found them selves back in the cavern that previously only Buffy, Angel, Giles and Willow had seen. They had tried before to get the oracle to explain the prophesy to them, but the boy had refused to clarify. The three looked around seeing no one else in the cavern.  
  
"I had wondered how long before the right ones would come." A voice spoke. The three people suddenly turned to find the young looking boy standing less than a meter from them.   
  
"What do you mean the right ones?" Angel asked.  
  
"The two souled ones and a slayer." The boy answered in a voice that indicated Angel had asked a rather silly question. "You previously only came to me alone, or without the others. You must work together if the lines are to continue." The child explained.   
  
"Well, we're here now. Tell us what the prophesy means." Buffy requested.  
  
"You already know within you what it means." The child answered, but was looking at Spike. Who simply closed his eyes and clenched his jaw.  
  
"Then she's his?" Spike asked in broken voice.  
  
"In her heart, she will always be yours. But yes, she is of him." The boy answered.  
  
The trio each stood in shock at the news the boy had confirmed to them.  
  
"How?"Angel asked.  
  
The boy looked at Angel a moment then started. "The day that was taken back. We can fold time, change memory, influence destiny. But we can not grant or take life. That day, life was made and the fulfilling of the prophesy began. When the others took back the day, we were forced to hold that life until the vessel was again ready."   
  
"William" Buffy whispered after a moment.  
  
"Yes," the child responded. "Once the other was created, we simply restored to you that which we had held." The boy paused as though sensing that the three each needed to process a moment what had been said.   
  
"Now, your questions have been answered. You have much to do to ensure that they will fulfill their destinies, for without you all, the lines will surely end. Now, leave me. I can help you no more on this matter." With another blinding flash, Angel, Spike, and Buffy found themselves back in the hotel. The three found themselves standing stunned as they digested the information the oracle had given them.  
  
"Daddy!" a voice chimed as Bella popped up from her spot on the floor next to Connor and ran up to Spike and wrapped her arms around his legs. Spike threaded his fingers through her dark hair and held her tightly to him a moment, closing his eyes and reveling in her warm touch. Then pulling her arms free, he simply turned and walked alone out the hotel's doors and into the night. 


	4. Acceptance

A/N- I really want to thank everyone who has reviewed this. And, I am so sorry for the delay in updating.   
  
**********  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Buffy watched, still stunned, as Spike disentangled Bella from his legs then turn and walk out the door to the hotel. It only took her a moment before she instinctually started to follow him. Before she could cross the room, Buffy felt a hand on her arm, stopping her. Buffy looked up to see it was Angel who held her back.   
  
"I need to find him."  
  
"He needs time Buffy. Alone." Angel said.  
  
Buffy glanced back to the door that Spike had gone through. "I hope your right." She said, looking back pointedly at Angel. They both stared at each other for a moment. Neither giving over any power or emotion to the other. Finally it was William who broke the silence, calling to his mother. Buffy turned back to her children, noting William proudly holding a picture, as Bella simply stared confusedly at the adults in the room.  
  
"I'm taking the up and putting them to bed." Buffy said, quickly sweeping up William and taking Bella's hand, leaving the room in silence.  
  
**********  
  
"Fascinating. Angel, I...I..I don't know what to say." Wesley commented. Angel had relayed to him and Connor everything that the oracle had told them.   
  
"I, just..I can't believe she's mine. I mean, a daughter. I have a daughter. With Buffy. That I didn't even know about." Angel scrubbed his face roughly with his hand.  
  
"And Spike has lost his." Connor said quietly.  
  
Angel's head jerked up and he stared at Connor.  
  
"Think about it dad. For five years Bella has been Spike's daughter. She has always been HIS Bella. Don't get me wrong, I think he loves William with everything in him, but we all know he's had a soft spot for her from the time she was born. Now he's lost her. To you. So, the question is.....what happens now?" Connor asked.  
  
Angel considered his son for a moment. He had become quite the man in the last several years. Overcome all the difficulty and prejudice he had been instilled with, finally leaving a handsome you man with a quiet wisdom gained only through pain. More than once, Connor's wisdom had shown Angel the correct path to take, as it was doing now.  
  
"How'd you get to be so smart?" Angel asked with a smile.  
  
"I think it must've been my mother." Connor answered with a sly grin. "You still haven't answered the question."  
  
"So, now we give Spike the time he needs now and then we make this work." Angel answered, staring back down at his hands.   
  
**********  
  
Hours had come and gone, and still no word from Spike. In a couple of hours it would be dawn, and everyone was getting worried. Buffy had been down countless times to see if Spike had returned. Wes had called Spikes cell numerous times, and Angel was pacing a rut into the lobby floor. Connor was the only calm one, resting in the office with his feet propped on the desk.   
  
"I'm going to find him. Wes, can you watch the kids again?" Buffy said coming down the stairs.  
  
"Yes, of coarse. You'll let us know if there's anything we can do?" Wes answered.  
  
"No." Angel answered, catching everyone off guard. "Let me go. I can track him faster."  
  
"Angel I'm not sure you are the person he will want to see just now." Wes said  
  
"No, but I'm the person he needs to see right now." Angel stated, taking his jacket from the back of his chair and heading for the door.  
  
"Angel" Buffy called after him, causing Angel to pause and turn back to her, "Bring him home."  
  
Angel gave her a sad smile in response as he nodded his head and set out the door.  
  
**********  
  
Angel had tracked Spike to 4 separate demon bars. Apparently when he got too drunk or rowdy in one, he would move on to another. Not completely out of character for Spike, but he hadn't done that in years. Of coarse, Angel thought, he certainly had a reason for tonight. Angel finally found Spike cozzier up to the bar in one of the worst bars in this end of LA. Placing a call, he notified Connor that he had found Spike and where. Then tried to decide how best to get Spike home. Angel could feel the pain and confusion rolling off his grand-childe in waves, and it hurt.   
  
Spike deserves better than this he thought for a moment. No matter what his status in the moral hierarchy, Spike had always had to fight for everything he had, and he had always ended up second place. Sure his grand-childe had certainly terrorized his share of more than one continent, but he had a soul, had had one for several years now. One he had fought for, simply to be better. He knew that Spike was continuously tormented by his soul, though he showed it much differently than Angel himself had.   
  
They had spoken about the souls on many occasions, and it pained Angel that Spike would suffer the same torment he had. But at least Spike had something going for him from the beginning that Angel didn't.....Buffy. Angel had wondered aimlessly for decades. Simply existing most of the time. Until Buffy had changed his world. Spike had been lucky, Buffy had been there almost from the beginning for Spike, and Spike had been able to forgo the wasted time Angel had spent. Now they both were fighting for their own redemption in their own ways, and to think they both owed it to a certain blond slayer. Who was now waiting nervously for her husband to come back to her. Angel let out an exasperated sigh and sat on the stool next to Spike.  
  
"Come to rub it in then?" Spike slurred out.  
  
"No." Angel answered and waved to the bartender. "Came to take you back."  
  
Spike gave a short laugh. "Like to see you try it."  
  
The bartender brought a blue shot to set before Angel. "I gotta say Spike, haven't seen you go on a binge in years. Kind of surprised here." Angel downed the shot before indicating to the bartender to bring another.  
  
"I've lost my daughter you bloody git!" Spike shouted.   
  
Angel just sat in silence.  
  
"I'd think you'd be glad to be rid of me." Spike finally broke the silence. "Figured you'd just take the whole thing now anyway." Spike said, sloppily pouring himself another shot from the bottle of tequila on the bar.   
  
Angel downed the next shot, then smiled. "You really are stupid Spike."  
  
Spike turned his head to stare at Angel and frowned.   
  
"You really think I could take them from you?" Angel asked.  
  
"Don't see why not." Spike quietly answered, "got the big first love thing and all. And, the tots tend to go where the mum goes."  
  
Angel simply shook his head. "You know Spike, you usually have everything figured out so well. Yes, Buffy and I will always have a love for each other. But we aren't in love, not anymore. Not like you. Buffy's heart belongs to you Spike. Same as the twins."  
  
"But,..." Spike began  
  
"No but Spike, you've been there all this time. You've taken care of them. You've loved them. You've been there every day, giving them every last bit of yourself from the beginning. No one could love them more than you, ever. No matter what happens from here on out, you will always be first with them. I could never take that. they will always be yours. All of them."  
  
Spike was staring at Angel with an incredulous look. Causing Angel to laugh as he took yet another shot.  
  
After long minutes and more liqueur, Spike finally spoke up again.  
  
"So how does this work then?"  
  
"Well, I think you spend a while telling me everything I've missed the last few years. I missed Connor's childhood, at least I can hear what I've missed of Bella." Angel replied.  
  
**********  
  
Both Spike and Angel had spent the rest of the small hours of the morning alternating shots with stories. Spike had given more than a few proud father speeches, and both had come to realize that rather than either loosing a child, somehow the child had gained a father. They regaled themselves and each other with stories of decades past, regrets, and glory until each finally somehow accepted the other as a friend. One that neither had fully accepted until now, the other being uniquely qualified to understand the other.  
  
Finally the bartender had cut them off, saying that he didn't want two vamps spending the day sleeping in his bar, it was bad for business.   
  
Angel felt that familiar tingle that indicated the approaching sunrise and decided that getting home was definitely a priority. It was lucky that it was a short walk back to the hotel. He tapped Spike on the shoulder, wondering when the blond vamp had passed out, but the blond didn't respond. After some forceful shaking, he got minimal response and decided he was going to have to lug him home. Standing rather wobbly himself, he managed to drag the blond off the stool and haul his arm around him. Not like he hadn't done this before, though it had been more than a few years ago.   
  
Angel loudly cursed himself for letting the hour get so late to try and get them home. There wasn't even a decent sewer entrance on the way. And why had he let himself get so drunk with Spike anyway? They were both going to catch hell when they got back to the hotel.  
  
On the way back to the Hyperion, Spike finally roused a little and the pair were managing fairly well. Well, not bad for two drunken vampires, Angel thought. As the hotel came into sight, darkness seemed to be closing in on both the vampires though, and Angel had just managed to get them inside the garden before Spike had passed out again, completely dragging Angel with him as they reached the bottom of the steps to the stoop of the hotel.  
  
Angel picked up the blond tossing him over his shoulder, but in his drunken state he over shot and both vampires came crashing down against the steps. The combination of drink and heads bouncing off pavement took both of them the last step into unconsciousness.  
  
**********  
  
"Where ARE they?" Buffy asked for the millionth time. Dawn had come and the light was filtering in the front door. but there was no sign of Spike or Angel.  
  
"Eddie said they left the bar a couple of hours ago." Connor said after hanging up the phone. "Said they were both pretty hammered too."  
  
"I am SO gonna kill them if the got themselves dusted." Buffy said, continuing to pace. "I can't do this, we have got to find them. I'll check the tunnels. Connor you head to Eddies and see if you can track them. Wes, you keep trying their cells."   
  
"Right." Both Connor and Wes replied and everyone set into action.   
  
Connor and Buffy armed themselves, just in case, and both headed for the rear door of the hotel.   
  
"Everyone call if you find anything out. Otherwise, we'll meet back here in....." Buffy trailed off, hearing a faint ringing noise. Connor seemed to hear it too.   
  
Both Buffy and Connor silently edged toward the back door with curiosity and caution as the faint ringing continued. The closer they got, the louder it became. Both burst through the door looking for the phone, certain that it had been dropped or left behind, only to find to sleeping vampires on the back steps. Angel was propped against the wall as Spike was head down and half draped across Angel's legs. Buffy could only stare in rage at them as Connor popped his head in the door to tell Wes he could stop calling.  
  
The three stood on the stoop studying Spike and Angel as one would a laboratory experiment, watching as the daylight crept closer to the unaware duo.   
  
"I still say Angel will wake first. He couldn't have been as inebriated as Spike." Wes commented.  
  
"Are you kidding? Spike is smaller, faster, his metabolism has to be faster than Angels. I say Spike wakes first." Buffy said.  
  
"I think she's right. Dad's preferred drink is some pretty powerful stuff you can only get in the demon bars." Connor said.   
  
"Yeah, and Spike never went for anything worse that Whiskey or Tequila." Buffy added, nodding her head affirmatively. "Oh, oh, smoke!" Buffy pointed as Spike's hand, now in the light started smoking.   
  
"Angel's foot too." Wesley pointed out, as sizzling noises could now be heard.  
  
The trio stood watching as the two vampires started rousing thanks to their new and painful stimulus. Suddenly both Spike and Angel's eyes popped open. There was a sudden fluttering as the two started screaming and jerking their limbs out of the sunlight and jumped up, making their way up the stairs and into the lobby without seeming to notice the three humans watching them.  
  
As Buffy, Wes, and Connor made their way into the lobby Angel and Spike patted down their smoldering partner in crime.   
  
Wes smiled and held out his hand, as Buffy and Connor reluctantly dug into their pockets, coming out with cash and handing it to Wes.  
  
"What the heck is that all about?" Angel asked with confusion.  
  
"Wes won the bet." Buffy supplied nonchalantly.  
  
"You mean you lot knew we were out there and left us to parboil?" Spike asked  
  
"No, you left yourselves out there to fry. We just watched to see who'd wake up first." Buffy commented, heading across the lobby for the stairs. "Oh, by the way. Since you guys got some sleep, do you mind watching the kids while I catch a nap? Thanks!"  
  
"Yeah, I'm beat. Night dad." Connor said waving towards Angel.  
  
"Agreed. I should get some sleep before my first group of students arrives." Wes supplied filing in behind Connor as the twins came running down the hallway, chasing each other and screaming as young children tend to do. A squealing and giggling Bella quickly ran around behind Angel's legs, hiding from her brother.  
  
"Tag! You're it." William said as he reached out and gave Spike's leg a very overzealous smack, then took off running around the couch in the lobby. Bella seeing her opportunity for escape, took off after him.   
  
Spike and Angel looked at each other, both at a loss for words.  
  
"OK, what just happened here?" Angel asked.  
  
"I'd say we just got stuck with rugrat detail." Spike answered, "Shall we?" Spike said waving his hand towards the hallway the twins had just run into.  
  
"By all means," Angel grinned, "I can think of worse punishments."  
  
With that both vampires took off down the hallway. As Angel edged around Spike, the blond vamp reached out and smack the darker one in the arm before taking off at a dead run down the hall, shouting "Tag, you're it!"  
  
**********  
  
The End  
  
This was part two of the Series the began with "Gifts". Look for part three coming soon. 


End file.
